Thoughts: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – Movie Adaptation

Today we’re going to shake things up a little bit. If you don’t have Twitter, Instagram, or Goodreads you may have missed the book community BLOWING UP about the movie adaptation of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which just came out on Netflix on August 17th. When I saw the trailer a few months ago I immediately knew two things. The first, was that I absolutely needed to see this movie because it looked adorable. The second, I needed to get to my nearest bookstore ASAP and read the book first. So I decided to switch it up a little bit today and discuss my thoughts on the movie!

If you would like to read my book review for TATBILB you can check it out HERE!

What’s the movie about?

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before follows Lara Jean Covey, who writes love letters to her crushes when she feels they are too intense. Her letters are a way of basically getting her feelings out of her system and then being able to get over her crush and move on with her life. One day the letters she keeps hidden get mailed out to all of her crushes, including her sister’s boyfriend, Josh. In an attempt to keep Josh from believing she is still in love with him, Lara Jean enters a fake relationship with Peter Kavinsky (another boy who received her letter). But as the story progresses Lara Jean begins to question if her fake relationship with Peter may be turning into something more.

The Verdict

To put it simply, I really enjoyed this book to movie adaptation. I did have a few minor complaints with it that I’ll talk about in a minute, but overall I think it was a perfect rom-com loaded with ALL THE FEELS. I was super excited for this to come out, so excited that I woke up at 5:30 am to watch it before my day started because there was no way I could make it through the whole day buzzing with anticipation. And it was 100% worth the early morning.

I’ve got to say, the casting department really hit the ball out of the park with this one. Not only were Lana Condor and Noah Centineo the perfect Lara Jean and Peter (I mean their chemistry was SO GOOD 😭), but everyone else from Margot, to Kitty, to Josh, and Chris, and Dr. Covey were so freaking perfect. The entire cast had my little black shriveled up heart warmed up in no time. Which is also surprising because I typically don’t care for rom-coms.

For the most part this movie stayed pretty close to the book. I wasn’t expecting it to be exactly the same and I knew that certain parts wouldn’t make the cut due to timing but I always love movies that stay as close to the book as possible. I was super excited to hear quotes from the book included in the movie and overall I was just extremely happy that even though some of my favorite parts of the book were cut out, the movie was still able to embody the tone the book set.

In terms of the few complaints I have, I’ve compiled a small list below:

I felt that the sister relationships, which were such a big and important part of the book, could have been portrayed better. Lara Jean looks up to Margot with the highest regard and in the book Lara Jean finds Margot is hiding things and not as perfect as she seems, that was no where to be found in the movie.

The Covey Girls are NOT the same as The Song Girls. I get that maybe there wasn’t enough time to explain that, but again there was a lot of emphasis on it in the book and I hated seeing it washed over in the movie.

I genuinely don’t know how I feel about the “twist” or should I say “reasoning” for why Lara Jean’s letters got out, I’m still trying to decide.

Josh’s jealousy over Lara Jean being with Peter was dialed down in the movie and I LOVED everything that happened in the book, so I was a little bummed to see it become so vague

The antiquing scene was no where to be found and I am DEVASTATED. I felt like that was the first time Lara Jean was really coming out of her shell and was praying it would be in the movie, but nope.

Halloween and Kitty getting a dog were also scenes I was hoping to see, but again NOPE.

I guess this is just a case of the book is better than the movie. Don’t get me wrong though, even with my favorite parts being cut and having a few issues with the movie, I’ve still been screaming about how adorable it is. I mean, I’m probably watching this now for the third time as you read this. So all in all, this was a really fun and adorable book to movie adaptation and if anyone wants to start petitioning for the sequel to be made into a movie just write my name at the top of the list!

I haven’t read the book but I watched the movie today and I loved it! I really want to read the book now because they are usually better and I just loved the movie so much 🙂
Brianna | http://briannamarielifestyle.com/

I watched the movie on Friday and loved it. I wasn’t really planning on it because I hadn’t read the book and it didn’t look like something I would like, but everyone on Twitter was freaking out about it so I gave it a shot and I’m so glad I did. If only the book didn’t have a 2 month waiting period at my library *sigh*

I totally agree with you – the movie was very enjoyable and fun to watch.
I missed the relationship between Margot and Lara Jean, it was very superficial on the movie… and I also thought they were very different looking from one another? I mean, I understand that siblings not always look alike, but they were very different? I don’t know…

I loved this post! Yess, this movie has been talked so much about throughout the bookish community and even with audiences who haven’t read the book! I loved the cast too, it was perfect! Peter and Lara Jean were so well portrayed in the movie and their relationship was very cute. The complaints you’ve listed are so relatable! I wish the movie was 3 hours long so we got more scenes from the book haha! I did not like the reasoning for why the letters got sent out; I liked the reason from the book more. And finally, the antiquing scene. I sooo wanted to see that in the movie. Great post 🙂

Thank you so much!! It’s so amazing to see the love and support the movie is getting from everyone! I’m really hoping we get a sequel because I definitely need some more Lara Jean & Peter (Lana & Noah) in my life!!

I literally agree with every single thing you said. I rushed to the library and binge read the book because I didn’t even know a movie was coming out! I had this on my TBR for a looong time so after binge reading I was like omg sooo cute! While I loooved the movie I just wished there was a little bit more. However, I still find this to be a really good adaptation compared to others that just butcher the story.

Ahhh I’m glad you enjoyed the book! I knew it wasn’t going to be 100% the same because movie adaptations never are, but I was just bummed to see some of my favorite parts gone. I’m really hoping we get a sequel movie though!

So, I haven’t read the book yet – which is why I haven’t watched the movie… I’m weird like that 🙂 However, the movie sounds so cute I kind of want to bend my own rules and just go for it. Of course, your review made me want to do that even more!

That’s not weird at all! I ALWAYS need to read the book first, once I see the movie it’s so hard for me to go back and read the book. If it makes you feel any better I have seen multiple people say that they watched the movie first and then read the book and appreciated the book even more! But definitely let me know what you thought of it whether you get around to reading or watching it first! ☺️